Through their technology licensing agreement, denim brands Isko and Soorty have launched a new collection titled ‘Isko Future Face™ by Soorty’. The collection has been created using the innovative Isko Future Face™ technology. Isko Future Face™ is a patented woven fabric that looks like a knit and combines a soft, silky finish with comfort, enhanced shape retention and a flattering drape, while maintaining all the properties of true denim.

Isko is part of Sanko Tekstil, the textile division of the Sankp Group. As the premium denim ingredient brand behind people’s most favorite jeans, it has a strong global presence in 35 countries with 60 international locations. By virtue of its Responsible Innovation™ approach, ISKO works to make the world a better place by creating awareness on environmental and social results. The company’s advanced expertise on woven technologies has led to the development of two top Isko™ innovations – Isko Vital™ and Arquas™ – which have changed the game by introducing the benefits of woven fabrics, i.e. durability and recovery power, into the activewear segment.

Soorty offers LEED certified production in cost-leading countries Pakistan and Bangladesh, a co-creation development facility in the hub of denim innovation Turkey, and design centers in the denim fashion hubs of the world - New York and Amsterdam. It has developed a strong foothold in European and US markets, producing for high street as well as premium brands in these regions. Soorty is the only company to have LEED Platinum and Cradle2Cradle Gold certification across both its denim fabric mill and garment factory, a testament to its commitment to the circular economy and mass sustainable production.

Foreign media reports state, the arbitrary ban and campaign led by the US against Xinjiang cotton may push China to import more than usual cotton this year. As per Global Times, for the last several years, China has been adjusting its cotton import plans in accordance with actual balance between supply and demand of the industry in the year. In 2021, it issued a 700,000-tons quota for cotton imports, all of which is for non-state traders and will be subject to a sliding-scale tariffs system, according to a note published on the site of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

However, with accelerated development of domestic cotton textile industry in recent years, adjusting the nation's cotton import plan according to actual demand has increasingly become a common measure for the industry. This not only improves the supply structure of raw materials but also helps reduce the cost for domestic textile enterprises and enhance their international competitiveness.

A sector that designer Virgil Abloh had expected to fizzle out in 2020, streetwear is on its way to becoming a $185 billion market. The category has managed to survive COVID-19 onslaught with demand growing for both mass and luxury brands.

Women’s streetwear an growing segment

Edited reports women’s streetwear market is growing faster than men’s. New products category are being launched and sold 47 per cent faster now compared to 2019. Streetwear brands Goat and StockX are witnessing exponential rise in women customers with the percentage of new arrivals increasing to 24 per cent up from 9 per cent in 2019. Yet, the streetwear market is largely dominated by men. Even today, retailers across US and UK dedicate 59 and 50 per cent of their spaces to men’s streetwear and luxury brands.

T-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts are some of the most popular styles in men’s streetwear while women’s streetwear market is largely driven by tank tops. Demand for men’s streetwear accessories is also growing faster at 8.3 per cent against 6.4 per cent for women’s streetwear. The market is largely driven by demand for new hat styles including bucket hats, beanies and caps. On the other hand, demand in women’s streetwear accessories is driven by bags including shopper totes and backpacks.

Growing demand for genderless styles

Customers looking for non-gender binary styles are spending the most on streetwear, says a report by Hypebeast and PwC followed by customers looking specifically for male and female styles. In the US and UK streetwear retailers Kith and Fila’s, women’s styles across core categories sell at either same or lower prices than men’s. For instance, men’s sneakers at Kith are priced 40 per cent higher than women’s sneakers. Men’s streetwear are also sold at less discounted rates of 28 per cent against women’s 32 per cent discounts.

Sale of women’s streetwear increased 47 per cent over the last three months. However, the sale of hoodies outstepped that of tanktops during this period, indicating rising demand for genderless styles in this category.

Men’s luxury streetwear on the rise

Streetwear styles have been deeply integrated into the luxury market in the last three months. During this period, the market has witnessed a 29 per cent increase in stocking of luxury brand sneakers. Demand for quintessential streetwear styles is growing with the launch of new products growing 50 per cent since the start of the year till April-end.

Though 55 per cent of products stocked within the luxury market are more skewed towards women, streetwear still remains a male-dominated market. The number of new streetwear styles launched for men is 50 per cent more than those for women suggest studies. Yet, demand for genderless or unisex fashion continues to grow in this segment. Brands like Telfar, Cold Laundry and Rastah have been launching genderless styles in the last few years.

Popular streetwear styles

Colored soles: Colored soles on sneakers, sliders and bucket hats are a hallmark of street style alongwith oversized silhouettes or matching lounge.

Smiley designs: One of the most sought after design post pandemic, the smiley face has become a streetwear essential popularized by Justin Bieber’s Drew House, Balenciaga, Lazy Oaf, etc.

Relaxed denim styles: Another favorite is the high-waist slouchy denim style with knee rips.

Puffer jackets: With brands including Givenchy, Ottolinger, Staud popularizing this style, puffer jackets have become a streetwear staple.

Co-ordinated sets: Another consumer favorite is coordinated sets, being hailed by both street and activewear consumers. Kith recently launched its Women’s Spring 2 collection comprising knitted separates in timeless hues. Adidas also launched a range of striped tracksuits in collaboration with Black-ish star, Yara Shahidi.

The growth in demand for medical textiles and protective clothing made within the country has spurred demand for reshoring in the US. As per an Apparel Resources report, Americans no longer wish to be dependent on China for apparel manufacturing due to rising labor costs. Labor wages in China have been rising significantly over the last decade. In 2013, it rose almost 10 per cent, and have been on an upward growth trajectory since then.

On the other hand, quality of apparels manufactured in China has not improved in the last 20 years. Manufacturers in China also face constant supply chain risks that affect their customer service. This also raises offshoring costs of US brands that fear tariffs by the Biden government might affect their sourcing from China. Manufacturers also plan to move away from China due to the theft of American intellectual property rights by Chinese manufacturers. Since the last few years, cheap imitations of American products have flooded Chinese markets, causing loss in market share for US brands.

Stepping up focus on automation

To offset increasing labor costs, US brands need to focus on automation and robotics. Harry Moser, Founder and President, Resourcing Initiative says, US apparel and footwear brands need to step up their investments in automation. They need to focus on new technologies to manage ‘local to local’ production more efficiently and successfully.

Though technology may make US production more efficient, workers fear it may lead to more job losses. However, Moser believes, lack of automation may cause the US to lose more market to China than automation. Automation can help the US apparel sector manage ‘local-to-local’ production more efficiently, he says. Already, many US companies have started embracing automation in their factories. Association for Advancing Automation informs, orders for industrial robots in North America increased by 20 per cent year-over-year (Y-o-Y) during the first quarter of this year to reach 9,098 units. Around 51 per cent of American companies are willing to invest in automation post pandemic, as per a recent survey by Honeywell.

Automation will help US not just drive cost targets, quality targets and safety targets but also create new job opportunities, avers Mosher. To reshore more jobs, he advises US, Canada and Mexico to enter into more trade collaborations. The US trade agreement with Mexico and Canada (USMCA) will help create 50,000 manufacturing jobs. To increase this figure to 2 million, trade agreements between the US, Mexico and Canada are needed, he says.

Worker training and capacity enhancement

The US also needs to train more workers and focus on improving productivity, feels Mosher. This includes setting up more supply chains for raw materials, assembling the required tools and fixtures, manufacturing testing equipment, establishing testing and quality procedures and ensuring efficient materials handling.

To bring back 5 million more jobs to the country, the American apparel and textile industry needs to focus on reshoring and blend their marketing and selling strategies with the digital space in the next three to four years, says the American Reshoring Institute which anticipates reshoring to rise 25 per cent in 2021.

Marco Gobbetti, CEO, Burberry has resigned from his post in the company. He has led the FTSE 100 company since 2017 and made a number of changes in it. Gobbetti is leaving to head up luxury goods group Salvatore Ferragamo, an opportunity that will enable the 62-year-old to return to Italy and be closer to his family.

Under Gobbetti’s helm the fashion company moved more upmarket to up the fight with rivals. That included more expensive products and taking the axe to a number of stores not close enough to Burberry’s high-spending shoppers. Gobbetti also introduced a range of new collections including Ricchardo Tisci, Creative Head’s new menswear collection.

Prior to joining Burberry, Gobbetti was employed as the Chairman and CEO of luxury leather group Celine from 2008 to 2016. He previously also worked at Givenchy and Moschino.

Faruque Hasan, President, BGMEA has urged for 10-year tax exemption for MMF producers in the country. Monsoor Ahmed, Additional Director, BTMA adds, demand for MMF has risen in the country with the use of sophisticated technologies in production of manmade fibers As per Daily Star, Bangladesh imported 45.72 per cent more manmade fibers during first five months of this year. Imports reached 99,597 tons compared to 68,348 tons during the corresponding period in 2020, according to Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) data.

Of these imports, about 61,693 tons were polyester staple fibre, 32,454 tons viscose staple fiber, and around 5,450 tons tencel and flax fibre. The expenditure on imports also increased 73 per cent during the pandemic. Local importers, millers, traders and spinners spent about Tk 1,221 crore during the January-May period this year compared to around Tk 706 crore in the same period the last year, registering 73 per cent year-on-year growth.

To meet rising demand, local manufacturers are producing significant amounts of manmade fibers alongside cotton fibers. These manufacturers are also maintaining global workplace safety standards spending nearly $4 billion as per recommendations of the Accord and Alliance, two foreign agencies working on such upgrades.

Sneaker resale platforms are increasingly expanding into apparel sales, shows a new report by Glossy. Resale platform Goat, which launched its apparel segment in 2019, witnessed a 500 per cent rise in apparel sales in the last six months. Sales of women’s apparels made up 40 per cent of total sales, says Eddy Lu, CEO. This encouraged the company to announce a $195 million funding round which doubled its valuation from $1.8 billion to $3.7 billion. The company’s women’s apparel segment is growing twice as fast as men’s, says Sen Sugano, Chief Brand Officer. This can be attributed to new launches from brands like Alexander McQueen and Versace who have worked directly with Goat to sell new products on its site, he adds.

Goat’s main competitor in streetwear resale market, StockX has also been moving away from sneakers. Led by Scott Cutler, CEO, the company now sells electronics and collectibles. It is valued at $3.8 billion compared to Goat’s $3.7 billion. However, its gross merchandise value of $2 billion also surpassed StockX’s 1.8 billion in 2020.

Goat’s sneaker sales grew by100 per cent year-over-year in 2020 while StockX saw more explosive growth in electronics sales, which launched in 2019 and grew by 75x from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2020. The company is likely to continue growing from hard-to-find collaborations, like the Supreme x North Face jackets which were among the best-selling items on StockX in the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, Goat will likely continue to work directly with brands to release products straight to the platform.

The next editions of Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone will be held simultaneously in Munich. The Munich Fabric Start will be held from August 31 to September, 2, 2021 at MOC Munich while the Bluezone will be held from August 31 to September 1 at the Zenith area. Both events will be attended by around 800 international textile, denim and accessory manufacturers who will present their new collections and developments for Fall/Winter 2022-23.

As per Spin Off, the Munich Fabric Start will offer trend forums presenting insights for Fall/Winter 2022-23 collections, a COVID-19 compliant event program involving trend researchers and panel discussions on various topics including circular economy, digital tools and production processes, according to a program that will be finalized in the coming weeks.

The modified hall layout of the event will showcase fabrics, design studios and sourcing areas across four halls and two alongside the MOC Munich. Almost 300 international exhibitors will present their textile innovations in the Fabrics Area including, among others, Lisa, Yünsa, Lenzing, Thermore and collections from agencies such as Berner & Sohn, Loomseven and Tex-Reseac. In the Additionals area, almost 90 manufacturers of buttons, ribbons, labels and other accessories will be exhibiting.

To be held in renewed format, the Bluezone will present a selection of international denim weavers and mills combined with a newly redesigned Keyhouse area as an innovation hub. A total of about 65 exhibitors including Tejidos Royo, Prosperity, Calik Denim, Berto, Officina+39 and Montega will present their latest developments. Advance Denim, Tat Fung, Weko and Dinghui Fashion will also exhibit at the Bluezone.

British maternity wear brand Seraphine plans to raise £61 million funds from the London Stock Exchange in July 2021. The brand will use 16 million of the proceeds to repay current term loan, in addition to paying costs related to float. The remaining £45 million will be used to repay the brand’s loan held by some of its shareholders.

Notably, about 50 per cent of Seraphine’s capital will be issued as a part of the IPO. The IPO is intended to help the brand expand digitally. David Williams, CEO, Seraphine, said, the brand’s listing on the stock exchange will give it an opportunity to expand reach and product offerings in the highly resilient and under-competed maternity and nursing wear market.

Founded in 2002 by Cécile Reinaud, Seraphine presently has eight stores across London and reaches as many as 120 countries through websites. It has stores in the UK, Dubai, Hong Kong, France as well as in the US, and generated a turnover of £28 million in 2020.

Revenue of sportswear brand Nike doubled to over $12 billion in the fourth quarter, overshadowing its weaker-than-anticipated performance in its fast-growing China market. As per Cristina Fernandez, Analyst, Telsey Advisory, growth is being boosted by a rapid vaccination drive and easing of restrictions in Europe and the United States that have encouraged people to go on a shopping spree, unleashing demand for expensive items, including sneakers. This strong momentum globally is helping the brand offset its losses in China.

However, analysts are optimistic of a swift demand rebound China as sales trends in the country during June were already reaching 2020 levels. The American multinational corporation t is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of $37.4 billion in its fiscal year 2020. As of 2020, the brand alone was valued in excess of $32 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses.